This invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus for processing a substrate-like sample such as a semiconductor wafer in a processing chamber arranged in a vacuum vessel, or in particular, to a vacuum processing apparatus having a jig for retrieving the members of the processing chamber from the vacuum vessel.
Each vacuum processing apparatus for processing a semiconductor wafer to manufacture a semiconductor device is required to occupy a smaller area to increase the number thereof installed in a building like a cleaning room in which a production line is installed. For this reason, efforts are made to reduce the apparatus size, which in turn makes it necessary to reduce the space for maintenance and inspection of the apparatus as far as possible.
With the increase in the size of the semiconductor wafer, on the other hand, the parts in the vacuum vessel making up the processing apparatus, or especially, the parts of the processing chamber have also increased in size and weight. Handling these parts for apparatus maintenance and inspection, therefore, takes both labor and time to a greater degree. As a result, what is called the downtime during which the apparatus is out of operation or no wafer is processed is lengthened, thereby adversely affecting the operating efficiency of the apparatus as a whole.
The maintenance and inspection work is conducted to suppress the adverse effect on the wafer which otherwise might occur due to the deposition of products in the processing chamber or the change in the inner surface state of the processing chamber caused by the increased number of samples such as wafers processed by the apparatus. Otherwise, the problem would be posed that the products are deposited on the surface of the parts arranged in the processing chamber of the apparatus, and the resulting deterioration of the parts causes the products from being separated or dropped off in the form of minuscule particles from the surface of the parts. The products thus released again in the processing chamber are deposited again as contaminating matter on the wafer and contaminate the wafer.
In order to suppress this inconvenience, the parts in the processing chamber are periodically replaced and the substances or deposits forming the contaminating matter are cleaned or removed to regenerate the surface. During this work, the interior of the processing chamber is exposed to the atmospheric pressure and the wafer cannot be processed. This suspension of operation reduces the processing efficiency. Thus, an improved maintenance and inspection work is desired.
An example of the conventional technique for removing and replacing the internal parts of the vacuum processing apparatus is disclosed in JP-A-2005-101598.